BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC Raises Stock Position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the period. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $1,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Pension Service purchased a new position in W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in W.P. Carey by 118.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.P. Carey Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of WPC stock opened at $64.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.57. W.P. Carey Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.91 and a fifty-two week high of $66.10.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.03). W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 5.02% and a net margin of 26.66%. The firm had revenue of $407.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This is a boost from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is 183.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of W.P. Carey from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Barclays set a $61.00 price target on shares of W.P. Carey and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.40.

About W.P. Carey

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023.